GUELPH POLITICAST #454 - On Overthrowing "The King" (feat. Jacquie Wells)

ACORN is on the frontline of fighting the housing and affordability crises for low and moderate income people and in Ontario they’ve invested a lot of attention lately on one bad guy, Michael Klein. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because he's the so-called "King of Renovictions". Last week the two sides came face-to-face, sort of, at the Landlord Tenant Board, but don't think this is the end of the fight!

On January 21st, Hamilton tenants living at 221 Melvin Avenue went to the LTB for the first of 20 such board hearings around a single respondent who’s bought apartment buildings around the Golden Horseshoe, Michael Klein. Klein’s pattern is clear: He buys a building, issues N13s, people move out of their rent controlled units, and jacks up the rent after some cosmetic change. He's even doing it here in Guelph with three buildings on Brant Avenue. 

At the heart of Klein’s scheme is a misunderstanding on the part of tenants about their rights. An N13 is meant to be used when you need to demolish the rental unit, do extensive repairs or renovations, or convert it into a non-residential use. ACORN argues that this is purposeful, it’s a strategy to take affordable housing and squeeze more profit out of it, which is why they want the LBT to consider all 20 cases as one. It's one way ACORN is taking on what might be its biggest and boldest protest yet! 

Jacquie Wells, who is one of the organizers of Waterloo Region ACORN, will join us this week to talk about who Michael Klein is, how deep the issue with renovictions in Ontario goes, and how many Michael Klein types are out there. She will also talk about the strategies Klein uses to lean on tenants to get them to leave, and the difficulties that  ACORN and other activists have experienced trying to organize against him. And finally, she will discuss what comes next in the fight against renovictions. 

So let's talk about taking down The King on this week's Guelph Politicast!

You can learn more about ACORN at their website, where you can find their 2024 Michael Kein report. You can also follow ACORN Waterloo Region on Facebook and Instagram. There’s also an article that was published on Guelph Today over the holidays that’s worth reading because it features rare commentary from Klein himself

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